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GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, 

CANDIDATE OF THE PEOPLE 

jFor pmfttrut of tfyt stuitr& g>tnit& 







1 



PHILADELPHIA.— PUBLISHED BY JESPER' HARDING., 

Stereotyped by L. Johnson, Philadelphia. 
1840. 



Orders (postage paid) promptly attended to,— Price? f 10 per 1000, or $1.50 per 100. 



A SKETCH 



1 



OF THE 



LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 



OF 



GEN. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



The prominent position now occupied by i 
General Harrison before the American people, 
Tenders it peculiarly proper that a brief sketch j 
of his life and public services should be laid j 
before his fellow-citizens ; for although his j 
public acts, both in a civil and military capa- 
city, have been for the lasting glory and ho- 
nour of our whole country, yet in consequence 
of his having resided for the greater part of 
his life among the patriotic and chivalric inha- 
bitants of the western states, they are more 
familiar with his history than those who reside 
in the east and north. It was this acquaint- 
ance with the man, or rather — to make use of 
the endearing appellation by which he has been 
■universally known — it was this acquaintance 
•with the Washington of the West, that has 
there produced such a general and ardent feel- 
ing in his favour ; that the people have, in de- 
spite of party dictation, borne him triumph- 
antly along, for the highest office in their gift, 
until there is now no doubt but he will be 
elected by a most decisive majority. 

It will be apparent that our efforts to com- 
press the materials of his eventful life in the 
compass of a few pages, have compelled us to 
omit all those minute illustrations of particular 
facts, which have in reality given to his life 
all the beauty of romance. To see, a youth of 
eighteen years of age, leaving his kindred, and 
friends, and paternal roof, and inspired by a 
lofty patriotism, marching into the savage wild- 
erness, and battling with the enemies of his 
country; and then in a few years to find him 
in the councils of the nation, exerting himself 
to promote the civil institutions he had so gal- 
lantly defended in the field ; and then again 
leading the armies of our country to victory at 
the dreadful midnight conflict of Tippecanoe, 
and at the hard-fought seige of Fort Jtfeigs, and 
the still more brilliant victory of the Thenars*, 
together open a field for meditation, which it 
is impossible to express in the few pages we 
iiave devoted to the history of his life, To 



have pursued a subject of this kind in all its 
details, would have been grateful to our feel- 
ings, but the brevity of our plan will forbid it. 
We must leave the reader to fill up for him- 
self the many omissions we are compelled to 
make. 

'We ought to state that this compilation is 
principally taken from the valuable and authen- 
tic history of McAffee on the late war, and 
from the excellent biographical works of Daw- 
son and Judge Hall. 

William Henry Harrison was born in Vir- 
ginia, on the 9th of February, 1773. His 
father, Benjamin Harrison, was one of the 
patriots of the Revolution. He was a very 
distinguished member of the first Congress of 
the United States, which met at Philadelphia, 
in 1774, and was one of the most conspicuous 
of the signers of the Declaration of Indepen-. 
deuce. He afterwards rendered important 
services to his country, by his energetic and 
patriotic measures as governor of his native 
state, Virginia. This eminent patriot died in 
1791; leaving his son, William, under the 
guardianship of his friend, the celebrated Ro- 
bert Morris. 

Young Harrison was educated at Hampden 
Sydney College, and, by the advice of his 
friends, turned his attention to the study of 
medicine. But about the period when he had 
completed his education, soon after the death 
of his father, the increased and barbarous hos- 
tilities of the Indians on our northwestern bor- 
ders, began to excite a feeling of indignation 
through the whole country. In this general 
excitement our young student participated so 
warmly, that he resolved to relinquish his pro- 
fessional pursuits, and join the army destined 
to the defence of the Ohio frontier. 

The war in this part of our country was then 
assuming a very alarming aspect. The Indian 
tribes, who had been in the service of Great 
Britain during our revolutionary struggle, had 
not yet laid down the tomahawk ; but still per-- 



LIFE OF GENERAL HA RRISON. 



3 



sisted in their ruthless hostilities, and in the 
almost daily commission of their savage atro- 
cities. From the year 1783, when Great Bri- 
tain acknowledged our independency, and war 
with the mother country ceased, up to the year 
1791, it was estimated that more than fifteen 
hundred of our hardy borderers had fallen vic- 
tims to the rifle and scalping knife of their 
savage foes. Our northwestern frontier pre- 
sented an appalling scene of rapine, conflagra- 
tion, and wanton destruction of life and pro- 
perty. Many of our border settlements had 
been crushed in their infancy, and all had 
been retarded in their growth. Expedition 
after expedition, fitted out to oppose them, 
had met with the most disheartening losses ; 

1 finally a gallant army, under Brigadier 
General Harmer, which had been sent ex- 
pressly to chastise these savages, had been 
signally defeated by them, and almost annihi- 
lated. Of the few experienced officers who 
escaped from Harmer' s defeat, nearly all, worn 
out with the fatigues of a service so harassing, 
and shrinking from a warfare of so dangerous 
and barbarous a nature, had resigned their 
commission ; and a feeling of dismay began to 
pervade the whole community. 

Such was the gloomy aspect of affairs, when 
the ardent and generous patriotism of young 
Harrison prompted him to give up the comforts 
and luxuries that surrounded him at home, 
and peril his life in defence of his fellow- 
countrymen. 

He received the commission of an ensign in 
the United States Artillery, in the autumn of 
the year 1791, when only eighteen years of 
ag§: and hastened immediately to join his re- 
giment, which was then stationed at Fort 
Washington. He arrived at that post a few 
days after the unfortunate defeat of General St. 
Clair, near the Miami villages, by the confede- 
rate Indians, under the command of the cele- 
brated chief, Little Turtle. This disastrous 
defeat, in which St. Clair's army was destroy- 
ed, with the loss of nearly a thousand men, 
killed or taken prisoners, left the whole of our 
northwestern frontier exposed to the ravages 
of a merciless enemy, and added greatly to the 
general consternation before existing. 

In this state of things, our government saw 
the necessity of adopting immediate and effi- 
cient means to put an end to this savage con- 
flict. Another army was promptly raised, and 
the command given to General Anthony Wayne, 
a gallant and skilful officer, who had earned a 
brilliant reputation in the Revolutionary War. 
Wayne's Legion, as his army was called in 
the new organization, assembled at Pittsburg, 
in the summer of 1792 ; and in the ensuing 
month of November, they left that place, and 
went into winter quarters, at Legionville, on 
the Ohio, twenty-two miles below Pittsburg. 



About thi s time, Harrison was promoted to' 
lieutenant; at id shortly after, he joined Wayne's 
Legion. Hi. s fearlessness and energy, with 
his strict attei ^ on t0 discipline, soon attracted 
the notice of 1 ds commander-in-chief, himself 
a bold and darin g soldier, and a rigid disciplina- 
rian ; and Gene ra ^ Wayne, not long after his 
arrival, selected him as one of his aids-de- 
camp, at the age oi " nineteen. 

We have enter e ^ tnus minutely into this 
detail, because we w i sn t0 point it out at how 
early an age, and ii * wnat trying times, young 
Harrison was thou, ?*** worthy of honourable 
distinction. 

Lieutenant Harriso n acted as aid to General 
Wayne during the wl. '°^ e °f the ensuing cam- 
paigns; and his bravt TV and gallant conduct 
throughout were such, that he was repeatedly 
officially noticed in tern ,s °f die highest enco- 
mium. The war was c onducted by General 
Wayne with all the coo! 'daring of a veteran 
soldier and the sagacity oi " a prudent general, 
until finally, on the 20th i tf August, 1794, he 
fought the bloody and des j ?erate battle of the 
Miami, in which the confedei ' 8,e(J Indians, with 
their allies, were totally defea ted. Their heavy 
losses in this battle so dishean °ned the Indians, 
that, in a few months after, t!, ' e 7 entered into 
negotiations for a treaty of pea " (J > giving hos- 
tages for their good faith ; and thus, with the 
close of this war, were extinguish ?ed what may 
be considered the last embers o. our revolu- 
tionary struggle. In his despatc. ^ to the Se- 
cretary of War, after this decisi 've victory, 
General Wayne, in mentioning th ose whose 
good conduct made them conspicuo us on this 
occasion, says: " My faithful and gal lant aids- 
de-camp, Captains Be Butts and T • Lev/is, 
and Lieutenant Harrison, with th ° Adju- 
tant-general, Major Mills, rendered th e most 
essential service, by communicating my orders 
in every direction, and by their conduc t and 
bravery exciting the troops to press foi ' vic- 
tory." 

Soon after this battle, Lieutenant Harrison 
received the commission of a captain, and v. 'as 
placed in command of Fort Washington, th\e 
most important station on the western frontier.-' 
He remained in the army till the close of the 
year 1797, when, as there was no longer an 
opportunity to serve his country in the field, 
he resigned his commission, to commence his 
career of civil services. He was almost im- 
mediately appointed secretary, and ex-officio, 
lieutenant-governor of the Northwestern Terri- 
tory ; which then embraced the whole extent 
of our country Tying northwest of the Ohio 
river ; thus receiving his first civil appoint- 
ment in that part of our country which he had 
periled his life to defend. 

While in this station, he entered so warm- 
ly into the interests of the people, and his in- 



LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 



telligence, and the kindness and urbanity of 
his manners rendered him so popular, that 
when, in the following year, they became en- 
titled to representation in the councils of the 
nation, they almost unanimously elected him 
their first delegate to Congress. Mr. Harrison 
was, at this time, about 26 years of age. 

He took his seat in the House of Represen- 
tatives, at the first session of the sixth Con- 
gress, in December, 1799. There were then 
in Congress some of the ablest and most en- 
lightened statesmen, ami some of the most 
eloquent men, our country has ever produced. 
Yet in this severe ordeal, the abilities and man- 
ly energies of Mr. Harrison soon commanded 
universal respect. At this period, the all-en- 
grossing subject in the West, and one in which 
our whole country had a deep interest, was 
the sale of our public lands. The manner in 
which these lands had been hitherto disposed 
of, had created great dissatisfaction among the 



peop! 



Thev had heen sold only in large 



tracts; the smallest of which included, at least, 
four thousand acres. Our hardy yeomanry, 
with limited pecuniary mean?, were thus shut 
out from all chance of competition with wealthy 
speculators and grasping monopolists, in the 
purchase of these lands — the poorer emigrants 
were becoming disheartened at the chilling 
prospects before them, and the settlement of 
the new country was gre itly retarded. Fully 
aware of the impolicy and injustice of this 
state of things, and true to the trust confided 
in him, Mr. Harrison's earliest legislative ef- 
forts were made to overthrow this pernicious 
system. He aroused the attention of Con- 
gress to the consideration of this important 
subject, and evinced so intimate an acquaint- 
ance with the farts and business details con- 
nected with it, that he was appointed chairman 
of a committee raised to examine into and re- 
port on the existing mode of disposing of the 
public lands. After a proper investigation, he 
presented a report, accompanied by a bill, the 
principal object of which was to reduce the 
size of the tracts of public land offered for sale, 
to such a smaller number of acres as would 
place them within the reach of actual settlers. 
This masterly report, which was the joint pro- 
duction of himself and Mr. Gallatin, together 
with the great ability and eloquence with 
which he defended his bill from the powerful 
opposition it encountered in the House, gained 
Mr. Harrison a reputation rarely attained by so 
young a statesman. The bill was carried tri- 
umphantly in the House, and finally, after some 
amendments, passed the Senate. The result 
was, that the public lands, instead of being of- 
fered only in large tracts, of which four thou- 
sand acres was the smallest size, were now to 
be sold in alternate sections and half sections — 
the former containing 610, and the latter 320 



acres each. The point gained was of immense 
importance, since, from the low price of these 
lands, and the small amount of purchase mo- 
ney required to be paid, they were now with- 
in the reach of nearly all the poorer emigrants 
and actual settlers, who felt a natural desire to 
own the fee simple of their homes, and of the 
lands they subdued from the wilderness. Thou- 
sands of the hardy and industrious farmers of 
our Northern and Middle States, and many of 
the poorer planters of the South, availed them- 
selves of the fair field which was now opened 
for emigration and enterprise ; and we may 
justly consider this happy,result, which Mr. 
Harrison was so instrumental in producing, as 
one of the leading causes of the rapid settle- 
ment and prosperity of our western country. 

In the year 1300, the Northwestern Territo- 
ry was divided. That part of the old territo- 
ry, included within the present boundaries of 
Ohio and Michigan, retained its former name; 
and the immense extent of country northwest 
of this, was made a separate territory, and re- 
ceived the name of Indiana. Soon after this 
division had taken place, Mr. Harrison resign- 
ed his seal in Congress, and was appointed 
governor of the new territory. This appoint- 
in nt gave great satisfaction to the people of 
Indiana, with whom the patriotic exertions of 
Mr. Harrison had rendered him deservedly 
popular ; and it was, at the same time, the 
strongest evidence of the confidence with which 
the general government relied upon his inte- 
grity, prudence, and capacity for civil govern- 
ment. 

The extent of Indiana was almost bound- 
less. The small population it then contained 
was thinly scattered through a vast wilderness, 
and only three settlements of any note existed 
within its territory. One of these was at Vin- 
cennes, the capital ; another at the Falls of the 
Ohio, one hundred miles distant from Vincen- 
nes : and the third was on the Mississippi, at 
a distance of more than two hundred miles 
from the capital. The communication between 
these remote points was, at all times, difficult 
and toilsome, and often attended with great 
danger. There existed no practicable roads, 
and nearly all the intermediate country was 
occupied by the Indians, or overrun by their 
hunting-parties. Most of those savage tribes, 
though professing to be friendly, were restless 
and dissatisfied ; and their leading chiefs still 
nursed a moody hope of revenge for the mor- 
tifying defeat they had sustained, six years be- 
fore, at the battle of the Miami. Artful and 
treacherous, numerous, warlike, and thirsting 
for plunder, they kept this remote frontier in 
continual excitement and alarm. The angry 
feelings of our hardy borderers were frequent 
ly roused by some robbery or atrocious viO' 
lence committed by the more evil-disposec 






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LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 



among their savage neighbours, and quarrels 
often ensued, which threatened the peace of 
the whole community. 

Such was the existing state of things in In- 
diana Territory, when Mr. Harrison was ap- 
pointed to the administration of its govern- 
ment. As governor of a frontier territory so 
peculiarly situated, Mr. Harrison was invested 
with civil powers of the most important nature, 
as well as with military authority. Besides 
the ordinary power which he held, ex officio, 
as governor, he had the sole power of di- 
viding the district into counties and townships, 
and was appointed the general superintendent 
of Indian affairs. He had likewise the unusual 
power of conferring on a numerous class of 
individuals a legal title to large grants of land, 
on which they before held merely an equita- 
ble claim. His sole signature was sufficient, 
without any other formality, to give a valid 
title to these extensive and valuable tracts of 
land. Possessed of this immense power, op- 
portunities were continually before him of 
accumulating a princely fortune ; but the scru- 
pulous sense of honour, which has always 
characterized Mr. Harrison, would never per- 
mit him to speculate in lands over which he 
had any control. And it is a fact worthy of 
note, that during the whole time that he held 
this important trust, he never availed himself 
of his peculiar advantages to acquire a single 
acre of land; — no shadow of suspicion ever 
doubted his disinterestedness, and not a mur- 
mur ever accused him of partiality, or even of 
unnecessary delay in the performance of this 
delicate duty. We mention this only to show, 
that the integrity of Mr. Harrison is not merely 
theoretical but practical ; and that it has always 
shone with the purest lustre when assailed by 
the strongest temptations. 

In 1803, Mr. Jefferson appointed Governor 
Harrison sole " commissioner to enter into any 
treaties which may be necessary with any In- 
dian tribes, northwest of the Ohio, and within 
the territory of the United States, on the sub- 
ject of their boundaries or lands." By virtue 
of this, or a similar authority, during the sub- 
sequent course of his administration, Harrison 
effected thirteen important treaties with the 
different tribes, on the most advantageous 
terms; and obtained from them, at various 
times, the cession of large tracts of land, 
amounting, in all, to more than sixty millions 
of acres, and embracing a large portion of the 
richest region in our county. 

In their frequent intercourse with Governor 
Harrison, the Indians had learned to respect 
his undaunted firmness, and were, at the same 
time, conciliated by his kindness of manner 
and considerate forbearance. This, with his 
intimate knowledge of the Indian character, 
is the true secret of the remarkable success 



that has uniformly attended every treaty he 
has attempted to effect. * 

The various and arduous duties of the go- 
vernor of Indiana required, for this office, a man 
of very superior abilities — one possessed of 
stern integrity and prudent moderation, accom- 
panied by the most unwavering firmness. Such 
a man Governor Harrison, in the long course 
of his administration, fully proved himself to 
be. The plainest evidence of this, to those 
who are not familiar with the history of Indi- 
ana during this period, is the fact, that, for 
thirteen years, at every successive expiration 
of his term of office, he was re-appointed, at 
the earnest solicitation of the people of the ter- 
ritory, and with the public expression of the 
most nattering approbation on the part of our 
chief executive. And this too, notwithstand- 
ing the entire change which had taken place 
within that time in the ruling politics of the 
country — his first appointment having been 
made by Mr. Adams, his second and third by 
Mr. Jefferson, and his fourth by Mr. Madison. 
The following extract from the resolution, 
unanimously passed by the House of Repre- 
sentatives of Indiana, in the year 1809, re- 
questing the re-appointment of Governor Har- 
rison, will show the estimate which along ac- 
quaintance had taught them of his worth : — 

" They (the House of Representatives) can- 
not forbear recommending to, and requesting 
of, the President and Senate, most earnestly 
in their own names, and in the names of their 
constituents, the re-appointment of their pre- 
sent governor, William Henry Harrison, — be- 
cause he possesses the good wishes and affec 
tions of a great majority of his fellow-citizens : 
— because they believe him sincerely attached 
to the Union, the prosperity of the United 
States, and the administration of its govern- 
ment; — because thev believe him in a supe- 
rior degree capable of promoting the interest 
of our territory ; from long experience and 
laborious attention to its concerns, from his 
influence over the Indians, and wise and dis- 
interested management of that department ; 
and because they have confidence in his vir- 
tues, talents, and republicanism." 

If necessarv, we might fill a goodly volume 
with extracts from public documents of a simi- 
lar nature; but what stronger proof than this 
could we have of the popularity of Governor 
Harrison, and of the entire confidence with 
which the people relied on his integrity and 
ability as a statesman ? 

In the year 1805. the celebrated Indian chief, 
Tecumthe, and his notorious brother, the 
Shawanese prophet, Ol-li-wa-chi-ca, (some- 
times called Els-kwa-taw-a,) began to create 
disturbances on the frontiers of Indiana. Te- 
j cumthe was a bold and daring warrior; saga- 
1 cious in council and formidable in battle. The 



6 



LIFE OF ' GENERAL HARRISON. 



prophet was a shrewd impostor ; cunnii ig? art- 
ful, and treacherous ; — and they were le agued 
together by the tie of mutual interests . and 
a common hatred to the whites. The o bject 
of these crafty intriguers was to form, by \ heir 
own influence and the aid of foreign emissar ies, 
a combination among all the northwest) -rn 
tribes of Indians — with the hope, that by a 
simultaneous attack, they might destroy all tl ie 
whites, or force them from the Valley of th e 
Mississippi. But their designs were soon 
known to Governor Harrison, and, aware of 
his dangerous situation, his prudence and wise 
policy enabled him, for several years, to hold 
his savage neighbours in check. The follow- 
ing extract from a speech, which he delivered 
to the legislature of Indiana, in 1809, will 
serve to show that he fully understood the na- 
ture and cause of the excitement then existing 
among the Indians. — " Presenting, as we do," 
said Governor Harrison, "a very extended 
frontier to numerous and warlike tribes of the 
aborigines, the state of our relations with them 
must always form an important and interesting 
feature in our local politics. It is with regret 
that I have to inform you, that the harmony 
and good understanding which it is so much 
our interest to cultivate with those our neigh- 
bours, have, for some time past, experienced a 
considerable interruption, and that we have 
indeed been threatened with hostilities, by a 
combination formed under the auspices of a 
bold adventurer, who pretended to act under 
the immediate inspiration of the Deity. His 
character as a prophet would not, hovyjrer, 
have given him any very dangerous influence, 
if he had not been assisted by the intrigues 
and advice of foreign agents, and other dis- 
affected persons, who have for years omitted no 
opportunity of counteracting the measures of 
the government with regard to the Indians, 
and filling their naturally jealous minds with 
suspicions of the justice and integrity of our 
views towards them." 

Two years subsequent to this, in 1811, from 
petty aggressions, the Indians proceeded to 
more open violence, and acts of decided hos- 
tility. The warwhoop was again heard yell- 
ing within the limits of the territory, and 
ifevery day brought fresh accounts of the per- 
petration of those atrocious deeds of depreda- 
tion and murder, which always gives the first 
intimation of a savage war. From motives of 
humanity as well as policy, Governor Harrison 
had always endeavoured to avoid a war with 
the Indians ; but when this result became un- 
avoidable, he promptly adopted the most ener- 
getic measures within his limited resources, 
•to place the territory in a posture of defence. 
At his own earnest request, and at the solicita- 
tion of the people, the president, soon after, 
directed him to march with an armed force 



towards the principal place of rendezvous of 
the hostile Indians, the Prophet's Town, on 
the Wabash, near the mouth of the Tippecanoe, 
where this crafty impostor had assembled a 
body of more than a thousand fierce warriors, 
ready to obey his will. 

Governor Harrison immediately assembled 
five hundred of the militia and volunteers of In- 
diana. These, with a regiment of United States 
infantry, consisting of three hundred and fifty- 
men, commanded by Colonel Boyd, and a small 
body of volunteers from Kentucky, constituted 
his whole available force — amounting in all to 
about nine hundred effective men. As soon 
a s he had disciplined these troops, and trained 
both the regulars and militia in the Indian 
mode of warfare, he took up his line of march 
towards the Prophet's Town. 

He left Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, about 
sixty miles above Vincennes-, on the 28th of 
October, 1811. Profiting by his own early 
experience, [this was seventeen years after the 
battle of Miami,] and the remembered exam- 
ple of his old friend and commander, General 
Wayne, his inarch through a wild country, to 
Tippecanoe, was conducted with so much 
skill and prudence, that he avoided all danger 
of ambusccxle or surprise from .the savage foe. 
On the 6th of November, the army arrived 
within five or six miles of the Prophet's 
Town. According to the instructions he had 
received from the president, General Harri- 
son immediately sent in a flag of truce, to 
endeavour to open an amicable negotiation with 
the hostile Indians. To this overture, the 
prophet returned a deceitful reply: — he pro- 
fessed the most pacific intentions, and agreed 
to meet Harrison the next day in council, with 
his chiefs, to settle definitely the terms of peace. 
But Harrison knew too well the treachery 
of his artful antagonist to allow himself to 
be deceived by his speeious professions, or 
lulled into any fancied security. He carefully 
selected the most eligible and defensible posi- 
tion for his encampment, and ordered his troops 
to lie upon their arms all night, that they 
might be in readiness at a moment's warning, 
to repel any sudden attack of the enemy. The 
sequel proved that these precautions were 
wisely adopted. An anxious night passed 
away without interruption : but about four 
o'clock, on the following morning, two hours 
before daylight, a sentinel at one of the out- 
posts discovered an Indian creeping stealthily 
towards the camp. He immediately gave the 
alarm, and almost at the same instant a strong 
body of the enemy rushed towards the en- 
campment, with the most savage yells. They 
made a furious charge on the left of the camp; 
and so sudden and desperate was their onset, 
that the guard stationed in that quarter gave 
way, at first, to their fierce assailants. But 



LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 



these brave troops soon rallied, and retrieved I 
the ground they had lost. The camp fires i 
were extinguished with all possible haste, and 
the battle was now waged on more equal terms. 
Our gallant troops fought with the most daring 
intrepidity, and their savage foes evinced a 
desperate, valour worthy of a better cause. 
The battle raged with great fury till the dawn 
of day, when a simultaneous charge was 
made upon the enemy, on either flank, and 
they were speedily put to flight with great 
loss, and the battle terminated. During all 
this time, the false prophet had been seated at 
a safe distance from the field of battle, chant- 
ing a war-song, and promising victory to his 
deluded brethren. 

The battle of Tippecanoe was one of the 
most spirited and best fought actions recorded 
in the annals of our Indian wars. The num- 
bers and the weapons on either side were near- 
ly equal : and the Indians, contrary to their 
usual custom, fought hand to hand, and with 
the fiercest bravery. Every man in this battle 
encountered his share of danger, but no man 
was in more personal peril than Governor 
Harrison himself — well known to many of the 
Indians, and the object of their peculiar at- 
tack — his fearless and unshrinking exposure, 
makes it seem almost a miracle that he should 
have escaped unwounded. In referring to the 
coolness and intrepidity of Governor Harrison 
on this occasion, we cannot refrain from mak- 
ing the following extracts from a journal pub- 
lished in 1816, by a private soldier who fought 
in this battle and who could have had no inte- 
rested motives for his publication : — " General 
Harrison," he says, " received a shot through 
the rim of his hat. In the heat of the action 
his voice was frequently heard, and easily dis- 
tinguished, giving his orders in the same calm, 
cool, and collected manner, with which we 
had been used to receive them on drill or pa- 
rade. The confidence of the troops in the 
general was unlimited." The same writer, 
in speaking of Harrison's kindness to the sol- 
diers, and his influence over them, remarks : — 
" He appeared not disposed to detain any man 
against his inclination ; being endowed by na- 
ture with a heart as humane as brave, in his 
frequent addresses to the militia, his eloquence 
was formed to persuade ; appeals were made 
to reason as well as feeling, and never, were 
they made in vain." 

An incident that occurred at this time is 
worth recording. The night before the bat- 
tle, an individual belonging to the camp, who 
had been missing, was arrested near the go- 
vernor's marquee, under very suspicious cir- 
cumstances. He was tried by a court martial 
for desertion to the enemy, and for an attempt 
to assassinate the governor. Sufficient evi- 
dence was found to convict him, and he was 



sentenced to death ; yet such were the humane 
feelings of Harrison, that he could not induce 
himself to sign the order for his execution. 
As the criminal attempt had been made against 
his own life, he felt himself privileged to ex- 
ercise his benevolence towards the offender, 
and the misguided wretch was suffered to 
escape the just punishment of his crime. It 
would have been more in accordance with the 
principles of strict justice, to have allowed the 
law to take its own course in this instance, 
but the circumstances of the case were very 
peculiar, and Governor Harrison's conduct 
evinced a magnanimity and humanity of heart 
rarely equalled. 

The importance of the victory at Tippeca- 
noe cannot be too highly estimated. It quell- 
ed the haughty spirit of the discontented and 
hostile Indians, and defeated the plan, which 
they had almost matured, of attacking and de- 
stroying our scattered border settlements in 
detail. Had we lost this battle, our army must 
have been annihilated — the whole of our de- 
fenceless frontier would have been left to the 
mercy of sanguinary and unsparing savages, 
and the consequent loss of life and destruction 
of property would have been almost incalcul- 
able. 

The president, in his message to Congress, 
dated December 18th, 1812, makes the follow- 
ing honourable mention of this battle : "While 
it is deeply to be lamented," says Mr. Madi- 
son, " that so many valuable lives have been 
lost in the action which took place on the 9th 
ult., Congress will see with satisfaction the 
dauntless spirit and fortitude victoriously dis- 
played by every description of troops engaged, 
as well as the collected firmness which dis- 
tinguished their commander, on an occasion 
requiring the utmost exertion of valour and 
discipline." 

The legislature of Kentucky, -at their en- 
suing session, expressed their high sense of 
Governor Harrison's good conduct on this 
occasion, by the following complimentary re- 
solution : 

" Resolved, That in the late campaign 
against the Indians, on the Wabash, Governor 
W. H. Harrison, has, in the opinion of this 
legislature, behaved like a hero, a patriot, and 
a general ; and that for his cool, deliberate, 
skilful, and gallant conduct, in the late battle 
of Tippecanoe, he deserves the viafmest 
thanks of the nation." 

This encomium came from those whose 
friends and neighbours had participated in the 
late campaign, and who were consequently 
familiar with its details, and with the merits 
of the commander. 

War was declared against Great Britain in 
1812. Prior to this event, British agents had 
for a long time been tampering with the dis- 



8 



LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 



contented Indians within our territory, and had 
bribed them with presents, and furnished them 
with fire-arms, to induce them to renew their 
hostilities against our country. The crafty 
and daring Tecumthe, too, was once more in 
the field. Urged on by his savage eloquence, 
by their own native love for war and plunder, 
and by the atrocious intrigues of foreign agents, 
the northwestern Indians again raised the \vr:- 
whoop, and commenced their barbarous system 
of warfare. Their cruel murders and depre- 
dations became of frequent occurrence, and 
the wailing of bereaved mothers and orphans, 
and the bitter complaints of those who h:ul 
escaped from the conflagration of their plun- 
dered homes, excited the commiseration of 
our hardy borderers, and roused a general 
feeling of indignation. (Such was the state of 
excitement in our frontier settlements in the 
summer of 1812. 

Immediately after the declaration of war, 
our western governors promptly adopted even- 
measure in their power, for the defence of their 
respective states and territories. But, conscious 
of the great abilities and experience of Harrison, 
they placed the utmost reliance on his counsels, 
and looked on him as the leader, under whom 
they might hope for success against the com- 
mon enemy. He aided Governor Edwards 
in placing the frontier of Illinois in a posture 
of defence, and, soon after, was invited by 
Governor Scott, of Kentucky, to a co:it'< :ence 
in relation to the Kentucky troops, which had 
been raised for the defence of the frontier. 
He accepted this invitation, and met Governor 
Scott at Frankfort, where he was receiver 
with the acclamations of the people, and with 
the highest civil and military honours. These 
public marks of the high estimation in which 
Harrison was held by the people, were shortly 
after followed by proofs still more flattering. 
of their confidence in his patriotism, his abili- 
ties, and his military skill. 

Governor Scott had levied an armed force 
of more than five thousand militia and volun- 
teers, commanded by some of the ablest men 
and most experienced officers in the state. 
Two thousand of these troops were ordered 
for immediate service ; and they had no sooner 
learned that they were destined to march to the 
aid of their fellow-countrymen on the frontier, 
than they at once unanimously expressed the 
most earnest desire to be placed under the 
command of Governor Harrison. This desire 
was responded to by the wishes of the people 
throughout the state. The laws of Kentucky, 
however, would not permit any other than a 
citizen to hold a command in the state militia. 
In this dilemma, Governor Scott consulted 
with the venerable Shelby, (the governor 
elect,) the Hon. Henry Clay, and other distin- 
guished citizens of the state ; and by their 



unanimous advice he gave Harrison a brevet 
commission of major-general in the Kentucky 
militia, with express authority to take com- 
mand of the gallant troops about to march to 
the frontier. This was a bold and unprece- 
dented measure, but one that gave unbounded 
satisfaction to both soldiers and citizens, and 
one fully warranted by the peculiar exigencies 
of the case. These facts speak volumes in 
favour of the remarkable popularity which 
General Harrison enjoyed in a population of 
brave and chivalric people. 

About this lime the cowardice and imbecility 
of General Hull tamely surrendered to the 
British the important post of Detroit, with the 
gallant force which composed its garrison. 
This event spread consternation, far and wide, 
through the western country, and greatly in- 
creased the difficulty and arduous nature of 
Governor Harrison's duties. He immediately 
organized the brave troops under his command, 
and commenced a course of rigid discipline 
and military training, with the confident hope 
of retrieving the disasters consequent upon the 
I cowardly surrender of Detroit. 

Soon after, he was appointed a brigadier- 
general in the service of the United States. 
But, as the chief command of the western army 
was conferred on General Winchester, Harrison 
declined accepting the commission tendered 
him, and gave up his command, to return to 
Indiana, and resume the duties of his territo- 
rial government. 

General Winchester was an old revolution- 
ary soldier, and a brave and meritorious officer; 
but one who was not, like Harrison, possessed 
of the enthusiastic confidence of the army. 
Governor Harrison exerted every effort in his 
power to reconcile the troops to this change. 
But soon after he left them, their displeasure 
at having been deprived of their favourite 
commander was not confined to murmurs, but 
created disaffection and almost mutiny. 

No sooner was the President made aware 
of the condition of the army, and of the 
almost unanimous wishes of the western peo- 
ple, than he immediately appointed Harrison, 
in place of Winchester, commander-in-chief 
of the northwestern army. The despatch 
conveying this appointment overtook him on 
his way to Indiana, and he returned without 
delay to the army. 

The powers conferred on Harrison, as com- 
mander-in-chief of the northwestern army, 
were of great extent, and he was left to exer- 
cise them according to his own *mrestricted 
judgment. In the despatch .containing this 
appointment, dated September 17th, 1812, the 
Secretary of War says : — " You will command 
such means as may be practicable, exercise 
your own discretion, and act in all cases 
according to your own judgment;" — thus 



LIFE OF GENERA^ HARRISON. 



conferring upon him extraordinary and almost 
unlimited power. We refer to this, merely 
that we may here notice the remarkable fact, 
that, though vested with unusual powers, Ge- 
neral Harrison was never known, during the 
whole of his command, to exercise his author- 
ity in an unjust or oppressive manner. His 
measures were energetic, but always qualified 
by his characteristic moderation and humanity, 
and by a regard for the feelings of even the 
meanest soldier in his camp. 

The duties that devolved on General Harri- 
son, in his new station, were arduous beyond 
description. The troops under his command, 
though brave, were mostly inexperienced and 
undisciplined recruits ; and the army was 
badly equipped, and nearly destitute of bag- 
gage and military stores. With these limited 
means, and under these unfavourable circum- 
stances, he was required to defend an immense 
extent of frontier, stretching along the shores 
of the great northern lakes, whose numerous 
harbours and rivers were easy of access to the 
enemy. In addition to this, the roads leading 
to those points which most required defence, 
were nearly impassable, and lay, for hundreds 
of miles, through a wilderness swarming with 
hostile Indians, and through gloomy and dan- 
gerous swamps, where the troops, though 
little encumbered with baggage, could advance 
but slowly, and with great fatigue. Under all 
these difficulties, the spirits of the soldiers 
were sustained by the presence and example 
of their favourite commander, who animated 
them in their fatigues, and cheerfully endured 
the same hardships and privations which they 
encountered. 

The autumn and early part of the winter 
were spent in active and laborious preparations 
for the approaching, summer campaign ; road« 
were cut, depots formed, forts built, and a few 
expeditions were sent out to protect our out- 
posts, and keep the enemy in check. One of 
these expeditions, consisting of a detachment 
of six hundred men, under Lieutenant-Colonel 
Campbell, was sent by General Harrison 
against a fortified Indian village, from which 
our troops had suffered much annoyance. This 
enterprise was conducted with great skill and 
success. The village was attacked in the 
most gallant manner, and, after a desperate 
action of more than an hour, was carried at the 
point of the bayonet. From the general order 
issued by Harrison, on the return of this expe- 
dition, we make the following extract, which 
will convey some idea of the humane and gene- 
rous feelings that have always characterized 
both his public and private conduct. After 
awarding these gallant troops the high meed 
of praise which their bravery had won, he goes 
on to say, — " But the character of this gallant 
, detachment, exhibiting, as it did, perseverance, 



fortitude, and bravery, would, however, be 
incomplete, if, in the midst of victory, they 
had forgotten the feelings of humanity. It is 
with the sincerest pleasure that the general 
has heard that the most punctual obedience 
was paid to his orders, in not only saving all 
the women and children, but in sparing all the 
warriors who ceased to resist ; and that even 
when vigorously attacked by the enemy, the 
claims of mercy prevailed over every sense of 
their own danger, and this heroic band respect- 
ed the lives of their prisoners. Let an account 
of murdered innocence be opened in the records 
of Heaven, against our enemies alone. The 
American soldier will follow the example of 
his government: and the sword of the one 
will not be raised against the fallen and help- 
less, nor the gold of the other be paid for the 
scalps of a massacred enemy." What a con- 
trast do these noble sentiments present to the 
atrocious conduct of the British general, Proc- 
tor, who, at the cruel massacre at Rasin River, 
and elsewhere, basely permitted unresisting 
prisoners of war to be butchered, by his savage 
allies, in cold blood. 

Late in the season the army went into win- 
ter quarters, at their strongly fortified position 
on the banks of the Miami, near the rapids, 
which was called Camp Meigs, in honour of 
the patriotic governor of Ohio. Leaving the 
army at that station, General Harrison pro- 
ceeded to Cincinnati to procure reinforcements 
of men, and supplies of provisions and military 
stores, for the approaching campaign. But 
early in the spring, intelligence was received 
that the British were making extensive prepa- 
rations, and concentrating a large force of 
regular soldiers, Canadians, and Indians, to 
besiege Fort Meigs. On obtaining this informa- 
tion, General Harrison hastened to his camp, 
and exerted the most strenuous efforts to pre- 
paie for this threatened attack of the enemy. 
His presence cheered the troops, and he in- 
spired them with fresh ardour, on the approach 
of the enemy, by an eloquent address, in which 
he alluded modestly, but in the most animating 
manner, to the neighbouring battle-field, where 
General Wayne had gained the brilliant victory 
of the Miami, and where he himself had won 
the brightest of his earlier laurels. 

On the 23th of April, 1813, the scouts 
brou <rht in intelligence of the arrival of the 
enemy. On the same day a strong force of 
British and Indians ascended the river in boats, 
and disembarked, partly on the southeastern 
shor<^ and partly on the opposite side of the 
river. Here they immediately commenced 
the construction of three powerful batteries. 
Corresponding traverses were made within 
the fort, and every approach of the enemy 
was met and foiled with consummate skill 
and bravery. 



10 



LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 



On the first of May, the batteries of the 
enemy being completed, they opened a heavy 
cannonading, which was returned with equal 
vigour from the fort. This cannonading was 
continued without intermission for five days ; 
but owing to the skilful dispositions of Gene- 
ral Harrison, it was attended with very little 
loss on our side. 

■■ On the fifth of May, a gallant reinforcement 
of Kentuckians, under General Clay, fought 
their way to the camp ; and Harrison, availing 
himself of this occurrence, promptly ordered 
a sortie to be made from the fort to destroy 
the batteries of the enemy. The detachment 
ordered to this service, consisted of three hun- 
dred and fifty men, a part of whom were regu- 
lars and the remainder volunteers and Ken- 
tucky militia, under the command of Colonel 
Miller, of the United States army. These 
brave troops attacked a body of British regu- 
lars, and Indians of more than double their 
number ; but the impetuosity of their charge 
was irresistible, and after a severe struggle, 
they drove the enemy from the batteries. 
They spiked the cannon, took a large number 
of prisoners, and having fully accomplished 
their object, returned in triumph to the fort. 
This sortie was one of the most sanguinary 
and desperate actions fought during the whole 
war, and its brilliant success was richly me- 
rited, by the intrepid gallantry of the brave 
troops engaged in it. 

Thwarted by the skilful dispositions of Har- 
rison, and by the battle, or rather succession 
of battles, fought on the fifth, Proctor was com- 
pelled to abandon the siege of Fort Meigs ; and 
on the eighth of May he broke up his camp, 
and retreated in disappointment and disgrace. 

Thus terminated the glorious defence of 
Fort Meigs. Harrison soon after left General 
Clay in command of that important post, and, 
unwearied in his exertions, proceeded to more 
difficult and arduous duties, at other exposed 
stations. 

The unceasing efforts of the British, and the 
restless spirit of Tecumthe, allowed our troops 
but little time to recover from their severe 
fatigues. In less than two months after the 
siege of Fort Meigs had been abandoned, the 
Indians assembled a formidable body of more 
than five thousand warriors, under their most 
noted chiefs, and again threatened an attack 
on that fortress. On receiving this intelli- 
gence, General Harrison, with a small body 
of regulars, hastened to Fort Meigs, by forced 
marches, and fortunately arrived there before 
the enemy. Leaving a reinforcement with 
General Clay, he returned without delay to 
his more active duties. 

During the whole of this interesting cam- 
paign, the vigilance and the intrepidity of Ge- 
neral Harrison, with the bravery of hi» soldiers, 



enabled him to keep a far superior force of the 
enemy in check, and to protect the wide ex- 
tent of our exposed frontier. 

At about the period when the enemy in- 
vested Fort Meigs for the second time, they 
made a desperate attack on Fort Stephenson, 
a temporary depot at Lower Sandusky, which 
was bravely and successfully defended by Ma- 
jor Croghan, of the regular service. 

We lay before our readers the following 
short extracts from an address to the public, 
relative to this affair, which was voluntarily 
published by the general, field, and staff offi- 
cers of General Harrison's army. After ex- 
pressing their " regret and surprise, that charges 
as improper in form as in substance should 
have been made against General Harrison, dur- 
ing the recent investment of Lower Sandus- 
ky," they go on to say: — " He who believes 
that with our disposable force, and under the 
circumstances which then occurred, General 
Harrison ought to have advanced upon the 
enemy, must be left to correct his opinion in 
the school of experience. 

" On a review of the course then adopted, 
we are decidedly of the opinion, that it was 
such as was dictated by military wisdom, and 
by a due regard to our circumstances, and to 
the situation of the enemy. * * * * And with a 
ready acquiescence, beyond the mere claims of 
military duty, we are prepared to obey a gene- 
ral, whose measures meet our most deliberate 
approbation, and merit that of his country." 

The chivalrous and noble-spirited Croghan, 
who was one of the signers of the above ad- 
dress, about the same time published another 
paper on this subject, dated from Lower San- 
dusky, in which he says : — " I have with much 
regret seen in some of the public prints such 
misrepresentations respecting my refusal to 
evacuate this post, as are calculated not only 
to injure me in the estimation of military men, 
but also to excite unfavourable impressions as 
to the propriety of General Harrison's conduct 
relative to this affair. 

" His character as a military man is too well 
established to need my approbation or support. 
But his public service entitles him at least to 
common justice. This affair does not furnish 
cause of reproach. If public opinion has been 
lately misled respecting his late conduct, it 
will require but a moment's cool, dispassion- 
ate reflection, to convince them of its propriety. 
The measures recently adopted by him, so 
far from deserving censure, are the clearest 
proofs of his keen penetration and able ge- 
neralship." 

Disappointed in their hopes of plunder, and 
dispirited by the numerous defeats they had 
sustained, the savage allies of the British had 
become discontented; the second siege of Fort 
Meigs had been abandoned, and gradually the 



LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 



11 



enemy entirely withdrew from our territory, 
and concentrated their forces at Maiden, their 
principal stronghold in Upper Canada. It will 
thus be seen, that the skill with which Gene- 
ral Harrison had conducted his defensive ope- 
rations, the only resource left him in the face 
of a superior foe, had been eminently success- 
ful ; and had not only protected our widely 
extended frontier, but had eventually forced 
the enemy to retire, mortified and humbled 
by defeat, from our country. 

The activity and enterprise of General Har- 
rison did not long permit the enemy to rest, 
after their retreat from our territory. He im- 
mediately commenced preparations for carry- 
ing the war into their own country, and formed 
his plan for the capture of Maiden, and the 
conquest of Upper Canada. 

Commodore Perry had been instructed to 
co-operate with General Harrison, with the 
fleet under his command, and by a happy co- 
incidence, that gallant hero gained his glorious 
victory on Lake Erie, and captured the entire 
squadron of the enemy, just about the time 
when General Harrison had matured his plans 
for the invasion of Canada. 

On the 27th of September, the troops em- 
barked at Sandusky Bay, and advanced towards 
Maiden, expecting to find the British and In- 
dians encamped there in full force. But upon 
landing on the Canada shore, they found that 
Proctor, disheartened by his recent defeats, 
had abandoned that stronghold, after having 
destroyed the fort and navy-yard ; and had re- 
treated with his regulars and savage allies to 
Sandwich. Our army encamped at Maiden, 
■and the patriotic troops could not restrain their 
exultation, on having gained possession of the 
fdrtress from which had issued, for years past, 
those ruthless bands .of savages, which had 
swept over our extended frontier, like the wing 
of the destroying angel, leaving death and de- 
struction only in their path. 

Our army advanced rapidly in pursuit of the 
enemy, and overtook them on the 5th of Oc- 
tober, at a place which is destined to be re- 
membered, as the battle-ground of one of the 
most remarkable and decisive actions fought 
during the war. 

General Proctor, having had his choice of v 
ground, occupied a strong position, flanked on 
the left by the river Thames, and on the right 
by a swamp, beyond which were posted two 
thousand Indians, under Tecumthe. But Proc- 
tor committed an irretrievable error, in placing 
his regular soldiers in open order, and extend- 
ing his line by placing the files at a distance 
of three or four feet from each other. 

The American army advanced in order of 
battle, and when in the immediate neighbour- 
hood of the enemy, the reconnoitring parties 
brought in intelligence of the dispositions 



Proctor had made. Harrison, with the rapid 
decision of an able general, instantly availed 
himself of the error of his opponent, and or- 
dered Colonel Johnson to charge the enemy's 
line in column, with his regiment of mounted 
Kentuckians. The extended and weakened 
line of the enemy could offer but a feeble re- 
sistance to the charge of these gallant troops, 
who dashed through their ranks with over- 
whelming impetuosity, and formed and attacked 
them in the rear. Panic-struck by this bold 
and unexpected manoeuvre, and at being as- 
sailed both in front and rear, the British threw 
down their arms in dismay, and the whole army 
was captured, with the exception of a few who 
escaped by an early flight with Proctor. The 
Indians attacked our troops on the left, and 
fought with great fierceness and daring, until 
repulsed with great slaughter. < 

The decisive and important battle was thus 
fought and won in a space of time almost 
incredibly short, and with a very trifling loss 
only on our side. All the baggage of the 
enemy, and their valuable military stores, to- 
gether with the official papers of Proctor, fell 
into our hands ; and several pieces of brass 
cannon, which had been taken from the British 
in our revolutionary victories, but which Hull 
had shamefully surrendered at Detroit, were 
again captured from our ancient foe. 

The united force of the British regulars 
and Indians engaged in this battle amounted 
to more than 2800 — the number of our troops 
was less than 2500 — and those were princi- 
pally militia and volunteers. The venerable 
Governor Shelby commanded the Kentucky 
volunteers in this battle, and General Cass, the 
late secretary of war, and the heroic Perry, 
acted as volunteer aids to General Harrison. 
This brilliant victory, following up the capture 
of their fleet on Lake Erie by the gallant Per- 
ry, entirely destroyed the force of the enemy 
in Upper Canada, and put an end to the war 
on our northwestern frontier. 

On receiving the news of this glorious 
event, the thanks of Congress were expressed 
to General Harrison in the warmest manner. 
Among many others whose grateful feelings 
found utterance on this occasion, the Hon. 
Langdon Cheves observed, on the floor of 
Congress, that — " The victory of Harrison 
was such as would have secured to a Roman 
general, in the best days of the republic, the 
honours of a triumph." A sentiment which 
was fully responded to in the complimentary 
notices which he received from every part of 
the Union. 

Having entirely defeated the enemy in Up- 
per Canada, General Harrison advanced with 
a part of his army to the Niagara frontier, and 
thence to Sackett's Harbour, where he left 
the troops, and proceeded to the seat of go- 



12 



LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 



vernment. On his way thither, he passed 
through New York and Philadelphia, in which 
cities he was received with the most flattering 
marks of public honour and distinction. After 
the necessary delay of a few days at Wash- 
ington, General Harrison proceeded to Ohio, 
where important duties required his presence. 

In the plan for the ensuing campaign, to the 
surprise and regret of the public, General Har- 
rison was designated for a service, far inferior 
to that which lie had a right to expect. Re- 
gardless of the memorable victories which this 
gallant and experienced officer had won, and 
unmindful of the various and important ser- 
vices which he had rendered to his country, 
the Secretary of War saw fit to assign to him 
the command of a district where he would be 
compelled to remain inactive, while others 
were appointed to those more arduous duties, 
which-he had heretofore fulfilled with so much 
honour to himself and to the nation. As if 
still unsatisfied with the insult which he had 
offered to General Harrison, the Secretary of 
War, on the 25th of April, 1814, appointed a 
subordinate officer i,o a separate command 
within his district, and notified him to that 
effect. On the receipt of this notification, Ge- 
neral Harrison instantly addressed a letter to 
the Secretary, tendering his resignation, with 
a notification thereof to the President. " As 
soon as Governor Shelby heard of the resigna- 
tion of General Harrison, he lost no time in 
addressing the President in his usual forcible 
terms, to prevent his acceptance of it; but un- 
fortunately for the public interests, the Presi- 
sident was then on a visit to Virginia, to which 
place the letters from General Harrison and 
Governor Shelby were forwarded, and that of 
the latter was not received until after the Se- 
cretary, Armstrong, without the previous 
consent of the President, had assumed to 
himself the high prerogative of accepting the 
resignation. The President expressed his great 
regret that the letter of Governor Shelby had 
not been received earlier, as in that case, the 
valuable services of General Harrison would 
have been preserved to the nation in the ensu- 
ing campaign."* 

In this resignation General Harrison evinced 
the true patriotism and disinterestedness which 
always marked his conduct. He would cheer- 
fully have devoted his services to his country, 
even in an appointment inferior to that which 
should have been assigned to him ; but he 
was too high-principled to retain his rank, by 
yielding assent to a measure which he con- 
sidered to be subversive of military order and 
discipline ; and though his own fortune had 
been shattered by neglect of his private af- 
for the benefit of the public, yet he 



fairs, 



Dawson, 



I 



scorned to receive the pay and emolument* 1 
of his office, when he was no longer permit- 
ted to perform its duties actively and honour- 
ably. 

It would be difficult at this period to trace 
out the true motives that induced the Secretary 
of War to the unjustifiable course he pursued' 
in this affair. But some knowledge of those 
events of the war in which he bore a part, 
with a little insight into human nature, would 
suggest that the leading causes which prompted 
him, were the envy and jealousy which a nar- 
rowminded man would naturally feel, on con- 
trasting his own feeble efforts and abortive at- 
tempts, with the consummate skill, the brilliant 
victories, and the almost uniform successes off 
another. That he had acted in an arbitrary^ 
and unwarrantable manner, was afterwards^ 
clearly proved. And in the investigation which 
took place in Congress in the winter of 1816— 
17, it became so evident that General Harrison; 
had been treated with great injustice by the 
War Department, that a resolution, giving him 

A GOLD MEDAL AND THE THANKS OF CONGRESS, 

was passed with but one dissenting voice in 
both houses of Congress. 

The leading events in the campaigns of 
1812-13, the gallant defence of Fort Meigs, 
and the decisive victory of the Thames, are 1 
lasting memorials of General Harrison's mili- 
tary genius. Yet, for these isolated actions, 
he deserves far less praise than for the skilful 
operations, and the Fabian policy, which led 
to these and other successes. The prudent 
care and indefatigable exertions by which he 
provided for his army in a wild and devastated 
country ; the promptness and unwearied ac- 
tivity with which he met and defeated the 
schemes of his antagonists, and the admirable 
skill with which he held in check an enemy 
far superior in numbers, and with a small force 
protected an extended line of frontier, and 
guarded the lives and property of thousands of 
his fellow-citizens, betokened a genius of the 
highest order, with a vigorous mind constantly 
on the alert. 

Soon after his resignation, in the summer 
of 1814, Mr. Madison evinced his unabated 
confidence in the abilities and integrity of Ge- 
neral Harrison, by appointing him to treat with 
the Indians, in conjunction with his old com- 
panions in arms, Governor Shelby and General 
Cass. And in the following year, he was 
placed at the head of another commission, 
appointed to treat with the northwestern tribes. 
The advantageous treaties made in both these 
cases, afforded new instances of the unfailing I 
success that has always attended General Har- ' 
rison's negotiations with the Indians. 

In 1816, he was elected, by a large major- 
ity, a member of the House of Representatives I 
in Congress, from Ohio. In this station, he 



LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 






erved, greatly to his own honour, and to the 
atisfaction of his constituents, until 1819; 
vhen, on the expiration of his term of service, 
10 was chosen to the Senate of the State 
egislature. 

In 1824, he was elected a senator of the 
United States from Ohio. While serving in 
his high station, he commanded universal 
espect. His views as a statesman were libe- 
al and extended; his remarkable readiness in 
Jebate soon rendered him a prominent member ; 
ind the nervous and impassioned eloquence, 
ind classical felicity of illustration with which 
le enforced his arguments, gained him much 
influence. 

In 1828, ne was appointed by Mr. Adams 
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo- 
tentiary to the Republic of Colombia. He 
accepted this appointment, and repaired, with- 
out delay, to the scene of his duties, where he 
was received with every demonstration of 
respect. He found this unhappy country in a 
deplorable condition ; the people ignorant of 
their rights, and almost in a state of anarchy, 
and Bolivar apparently about to assume the 
despotic power of a military dictator. Shocked 
at this state of things, with the frankness of an 
old soldier he wrote his celebrated letter to 
Bolivar, from which, as we have not space for 
the whole letter, we take the liberty of quoting 
the following extracts : — 

" I contend," said General Harrison, "that 
the strongest of all governments is that which 
is most free. We consider that of the United 
States as the strongest, precisely because it is 
the most free. It possesses the faculties, 
equally to protect itself from foreign force, or 
internal convulsion. In both it has been. suf- 
ficiently tried. In no country on earth would 
an armed opposition to the laws be sooner or 
more effectually put down. Not so much from 
the terrors of the guillotine and the gibbet, as 
from the aroused determination of the nation, 
exhibiting their strength, and convincing the 
factious that their cause was hopeless." 
***** * 

" In bestowing the palm of merit, the world 
has become wiser than formerly. The suc- 
cessful warrior is no longer regarded as enti- 
tled to the first place in the temple of fame. 
Talents of this kind have become too common, 
and too often used for mischievous purposes, 
to be regarded as they once were. In this 
enlightened age, the mere hero of the field, and 
the successful leader of armies, may, for the 
moment, attract attention. But it will be such 
as is bestowed on the passing meteor, whose 
blaze is no longer remembered, when it is no 
longer seen. To be esteemed eminently great, 
it is necessary to be eminently good. The 
qualities of the hero and the general must be 
devoted to the advantage of mankind, before 

B 



he will be permitted to assume the title of their 
benefactor; and the station which he will hold 
in their regard and affections will depend, not 
upon the number and splendour of his victories, 
but upon the results and the use he may make 
of the influence he acquires from them." 

" If the fame of our Washington depended 
upon his military achievements, would the 
common consent of the world allow him the 
pre-eminence he possesses ? The victories 
at Trenton, Monmouth, and York, brilliant as 
they were, exhibiting as they certainly did the 
highest grade of military talents, are scarcely 
thought of. The source of the veneration and 
esteem which is entertained for his character, 
by every description of politicians, the mo- 
narchist and aristocrat, as well as the repub- 
lican, is to be found in his undeviating and 
exclusive devotedness to the interest of his 
country. No selfish consideration was ever 
suffered to intrude itself into his mind. For 
his country he conquered ; and the unrivalled 
and increasing prosperity of that country is 
constantly adding fresh glory to his name." 

We regret that our limits will not permit us 
to insert the whole of this vigorous and beau- 
tiful production. But the few passages we 
have quoted contain a fair specimen of the 
noble sentiments which characterize this letter, 
and give evidence of the pure republican prin- 
ciples which have ever distinguished this emi- 
nent statesman. 

General Harrison remained in Colombia 
but a short time, having been recalled by the 
present administration, soon after it came into 
power. 

Since his return from this mission, he lias 
lived in comparative retirement, in Ohio, the 
state of his adoption. With the most enticing 
opportunities of accumulating wealth,, during 
his long government of Indiana, and superin- 
tendency of Indian affairs, he acquired none ; 
his honest and scrupulous integrity was proof 
against the golden temptations. His time and 
best energies were devoted to the service of 
his country, and his own interests were ever, 
with him, a secondary consideration. He 
therefore retired without the spoils of office, 
and with onlv a competency .barely sufficient 
for his support; but rich in a reputation 
undimsned by a single tarnish, and in the 
honour and respect of all his fellow-citizens. 

General Harrison is now sixty-five years of 
age : (about six years younger than President 
Jackson ;) but such have been the activity and 
temperate habits of his past life, that he enjoys 
his moral and physical energies in remarkable 
vigour. In person he is tall and thin ; his 
features are irregular, but his eyes are dark, 
keen, and penetrating; his forehead is expan- 
sive ; his mouth peculiarly indicative of firm- 
ness and genius ; and his countenance is high* 



LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 



ly expressive of intelligence and benevolence. 
His manners are plain, frank, and unassuming, 
and his disposition is cheerful, kind, and ge- 
nerous, almost to a fault. In his private inter- 
course, he is beloved and esteemed by all who 
know him. In the various civil and military 
offices he has held, he has always been mode- 
rate and forbearing, yet firm and true to his 
trust. No other commander has ever been 
more popular with our militia, and the true 
secret of this cannot be better explained than 
by his own reply, when asked how he had 
gained this influence: "By treating them," 
said he, " with aflection and kindness, by al- 
ways recollecting that they were my fellow- 
citizens, whose feelings I was bound to re- 
spect; and by sharing with them, on every 
occasion, the hardships which they were 
obliged to undergo." 

In the republican institutions of our country, 
birth and parentage are comparatively of very 
little importance ; and no candidate for public 
favour can found thereon the slightest claim 
to the respect or the support of his fellow- 
citizens. We have happily shaken off the 
thralling prejudices of the old world, and a 
title to office and honourable distinction is not 
with us hereditary ; but every man must earn 
his own good name, and his claim to the favour 
of the people, by his own good deeds. Yet, 
aware, as every one must be, of the powerful 
influence of early education, it is worthy of 
remark, as well as gratifying to know, that a 
candidate for public office, in whom we feel 
an interest, passed all the early years of his 
life with the brightest examples constantly be- 
fore him ; and under the parental tuition of one 
of those illustrious patriots, whose memory is 
revered by every true-hearted American. It is 
pleasing to know, that his first political senti- 
ments were imbibed in a school of the purest 
republican principles. And when we trace up 
the career of this individual, from the spring- 
time of his youth, to the summer of his man- 
hood and to the early autumn of his years, 
and see those principles closely adhered to 
throughout, we can scarcely resist the con- 
viction, that his future course will be consistent 
with the past ; and that, with matured aWitk^ 
he will be still more conspicuous for^Ais-fce 
publican principles, his moderation in office, 
his firm integrity, and his extended and en- 
lightened views as a statesman. Such were the 
early advantages of William Henry Harrison ; 
such has been his course thus far through life ; 
and such is now the bright promise to a realiza- 
tion of which we may safely look forward, 
should the people see fit to place him in office. 

The friends of General Harrison found no 
claim on his military services. His own sen- 
timents on this subject we have already quoted; 
and his friend? would scorn, as much as he 



would, any attempt to dazzle a single one of 
his fellow-citizens by the glory of his military 
renown, brilliant though it be. They would 
rather point to his numerous civil services, in 
the forty years he has devoted to his country ; 
to the various and important offices he has so 
ably filled — in the territorial governments, in 
the Legislature of his own state, in the House 
of Representatives and Senate of the United 
States ; and to the high order of abilities 
displayed in his speeches in Congress, in his 
public acts, and in his voluminous public cor- 
respondence. And we here take occasion to 
say, that all his letters and public papers 
have been exclusively written by himself; 
and that so far from his having called in the 
mental aid of another, to prepare his messages 
and despatches, as some of our distinguished 
men have condescended to do, he has never 
even employed an amanuensis, to perform the 
manual labour of his correspondence. His 
ruling principles through life appear to have 
been, an ardent love for his country, and an 
earnest desire to serve her best interests ; with 
a devotion to the pure republican maxims of 
the Revolution, always unwavering and con- 
sistent; unlike the scheming politicians of a 
more modern school, whose own interest is 
the polar star that guides them, whatever may 
betide their country. 

With tried patriotism, with abilities of the 
highest order, with integrity pure as the unsul- 
lied snow, and with the truest republican 
principles, William Henry Harrison is now 
before his fellow-citizens, as a. candidate for 
the highest office in their gift. In 'the long 
course of his public life, he has always been 
a staunch advocate of popular rights, and is 
therefore truly the candidate of the people. He 
comes before them, not with a crowd of pam- 
pered and still-grasping officials to intrigue 
and bribe for him, but with the noble frank- 
ness of an honourable and high-minded man, 
willing and desirous to be judged impartially 
by his fellow-citizens, and ready to abide by 
their honest decision. 



SlaB&der Refuted. 

y k\ tbg j»ar 1820, while General Harrison was 
*injfch^(JS5pate of Ohio, the criminal law of that 
State was revised and amended. A bill was at 
that time introduced for the punishment of crimi- 
nals, who had been convicted of larcenies of any 
amount less than fifty dollars. Public whipping 
was first proposed as a proper punishment; but 
from motives of humanity, the House of Repre- 
sentatives, after much deliberation, adopted fine 
and imprisonment, as a more suitable mode of 
punishing this class of criminals; and a clause 
was added to this bill, declaring that when such 
convicts could not pay their fines and costs, their 
services, for a limited time, should be sold out to 
any one, who would pay their fines and costs for 
them. In this form, the bill passed the house by 



LIFE OF GENERAL 



ON. 



15 



almost unanimous vote ; and when it was sent to 
the Senate for their concurrence. General Harris|jn 
voted in favour of it, as a substitute for the barba- 
rous punishment of public whipping, and " as the 
most mild and humane mode of dealing with the 
offenders for whose cases it was intended." This 
bill, it must be remembered, applied only to con- 
victed criminals. Yet, out of this plain and simple 
matter, which, in truth, is but another illustration 
of General Harrison's characteristic benevolence 
and humanity, his reckless opponents have coined 
the base falsehood of his having voted to sell white 
men into slavery, for mere debt. 

But the pure and spotless life of-General Harrison, 
his unblemished honour and integrity, and the faith- 
fulness and ability with which he has fulfilled the 
duties of the many high offices with which he has 
been intrusted, have left his enemies no weapons 
against him, except those to which they now so 
unblushingly resort, — vile falsehoods, and pitiful 
and slanderous misrepresentations. 



The I<og Cabin and Hard Cider 
Candidate. 

Gen. Harrison, when parting from a regiment of 
his soldiers, just after the Indian war, said to them : 
" Gentlemen, if you ever come to Vincennes, you 
will always find a plate and a knife and fork at my 
table, and I assure you that you will never find my 
door shut and the string of the latch pulled in." 




The above represents the veteran HARRISON, 
as he now lives, a Private Citizen, in the act of 
welcoming an old soldier into his Cabin, where he 
had 'some friends at dinner. He introduced him 
thus — " Gentlemen, here is one of my old com- 
rades who has done battle for his country, and he 
will take a seat with us at table." The Soldier, 
thus introduced, was received with open arms and 
joyful hearts, by the company. 

An EBo^tieiit Kec©rd. 

William H. Harrison was born in Virginia on 
the: 9th of February, 1773. 

In 1 791, when 19 years of age, he was appoint- 
ed by Washington an Ensign in our infant army. 

In 1792, ho was promoted to the rank of Lieu- 
tenant; and in } 793, joined the legion under Gen. 
Wayne, and in a few days thereafter, was selected 
by him as one of his Aids. 

On the 24th of August, 1794, he distinguished 



himself in the battle of the Miami, and elicited the 
most flattering written approbation of Gen. Wayne. 
In 1795, he was madea Captain, and was placed 
in command of Fort Washington. 

In 1797, he was appointed, by President Adams, 
Secretary of the Northwestern Territory and ex 
officio hi. Governor. 

In 1798, he was chosen a delegate to Congress. 
In 1801, he was appointed Governor of Indiana, 
and in the same year, President Jefferson appointed 
him sole Commissioner for treating with the In- 
dians. 

In 1809, he was re-appointed Governor of In- 
diana by Madison. 

On the 7th November, 1811, he gained the great 
victory of TIPPECANOE. 

On the 11th September, 1812, he was appointed 
by Madison, Commander-in-Chief of the North- 
western Army. 

On the 1st May, 1813, the siege of Fort Meigs 
commenced — lasted five days, and was terminated 
by the brilliant and successful sortie of Gen. Har- 
rison. 

On the 31st July, 1S13, the battle of Fort Ste- 
phenson occurred. 

On the 5th October, 1813, he gained the splendid- 
victory of the THAMES, over the British and 
Indians under Proctor. 

In 1814, he was appointed by Madison one of 
the Commissioners to treat with the Indians, and 
in the same year, with his colleagues Gov. Shelby 
and Gen. Cass, concluded the celebrated treaty of 
Greenville. 

In 1815, he was again appointed such Commis- 
sioner, with Gen. Mc Arthur and Mr. Graham, and 
negotiated a treaty at Detroit. 

In 1816, he was elected a member of Congress- 

In January, 1818, he introduced a resolution in 
honour of Kosciusko, and supported it in one of the 
most feeling, classical and eloquent speeches ever 
delivered in the House of Representatives. 

In 1819, he was elected a member of the Ohio 
Senate. 

In 1824, he was elected Senator in Congress, 
and was appointed, in 1825, Chairman of the Mili 
tary Committee, in place of Gen. Jackson, who 
had resigned. 

In 1827, he was appointed Minister to Colombia, 
and, in 1829, wrote his immortal letter to Bolivar, 
the deliverer of South America. 

Of him Col. Johnson (Vice-President) thus 
spoke in the House of Representatives whilst a 
member of that body : 

" Of the career of Gen. Harrison, I need not 
speak — the history of the west is his history. For 
forty years he has been identified with its interests, 
its perils, and its hopes. Universally beloved in 
the walks of peace, and distinguished by his ability 
in the councils of his country, he has been yet more 
illustriously distinguished in the field. During the 
late war, he was longer in actual service than any 
other General Officer ; he was, perhaps, oftener in 
action than any one of them, and never sustained a 
defeat." 

Such is the man, who, still enjoying his untar- 
nished fame and glory, and standing on a proud and 
lofty eminence where neither malice or envy can 
assail him, is now summoned by his grateful coun- 
trymen to leave the quiet walks of private life to 
guide the councils of the nation, " and deliver the 
country from the dangers which encompass it. 



And he will be her deliverer ! 



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